Tigers' unbeaten mark ends at hands of Melbourne, officiating

Melbourne’s defense stuffed Tohopekaliga running back Churandy Duval on a fourth and goal play from inside the 1-yard line in overtime as the Bulldogs recorded a 31-24 win over the previously undefeated Tigers.

But it was the officiating from the very beginning of the game that upset Tohopekaliga coach Anthony Paradiso.

“This game just will never sit right with me, because I just don’t think the players were allowed to determine the outcome,” he said.

The Tigers coach was upset from that start of the night, when officials held up the opening kickoff for five minutes before telling Paradiso that his team could not use their own game balls because they felt they “were too tacky.”  Each team provides their own games balls when on offense and Paradiso noted that was the first time in any of his coaching stops where the legality of his team’s game balls were questioned by officials. 

When the game finally did begin, Tohopekaliga’s high-flying offense was brought to a grinding halt on their first three drives when three offensive holding penalties and two personal fouls put the offense behind the chains.

Tohopekaliga did manage points on the third drive when Tylor Domres booted a 28-yard field goal to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.  Although Toho’s defense recorded three stops to open the game, Melbourne took a 7-3 second-quarter lead when Jordan Pidala capped a seven-play, 41-yard drive with a 10-yard scoring strike to Kymarlon Johnson.

THS Quarterback Sabby Meassick scored on a nine-yard run at the 4:53 mark of the third period as the Tigers retook the lead, 10-7.  Following another defensive stop, Meassick directed another touchdown drive, hitting Delvin Pryor on an 11-yard pass as the Tigers took a 16-7 lead into the locker room.

But penalties and mistakes would hurt the Tigers in the third quarter.  Melbourne intercepted Meassick on the first drive and Pidala took advantage by hitting Jalen Daley on a 33-yard touchdown pass the Bulldogs cut the gap to 16-14.  They retook the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter on Brady Clark’s 29-yard field goal.

The Tigers got the break they needed to get back in the lead midway through the fourth quarter, when the defense forced a Melbourne punt and, after a bad snap,  Tohopekaliga took over on the 14.  Three plays later, Duval scored from the 3 and Meassick’s screen pass to Pryor on the ensuing two-point conversion gave the Tigers a 24-17 lead with 3:43 remaining.

Pidala converted big third-down plays on the ensuing drive, but it was another huge questionable penalty that kept their last ditch drive alive.  On a third-and-13, Pidala completed a short pass and a Toho defender appeared to knock the receiver out bounds by hitting him below the shoulder pads with his forearm. Still, the officials threw a flag for targeting, which pushed the ball down to the Toho 40 and kept the drive alive.  Six plays later, on a third-and-10 from 12, Padila’s pass was tipped in the air by a defender and bounced high into the end zone where James Knolmayer caught it for a touchdown.   Clark booted the extra point and the game was knotted at 24-24 with 30 seconds remaining.

Tohopekaliga won the overtime toss and elected to go on defense first.  But on the first play, Johnson broke three tackles on a sweep to his left and fell into the end zone for a touchdown and a 31-24 lead.  On the Tigers possession, Duval ran for four yards on the first play and after an incomplete pass, he rammed the ball five more yards to inside the one.  With Toho inches away from the goal line and facing a fourth down, the Melbourne defense came up with the play of the game by stuffing Duval for no gain.

Duval had a huge game rushing for the Tigers, gaining season-high in both yards (174) and carries (27). Meassick finished the game 23-of-36 for 167 yards and accounted for two touchdowns, but he was picked off three times.

Tohopekaliga, now 3-1, returns to action next week with a District 4S-10 game against Celebration (1-4).